


Flash Red; Vibe Blue

by fezwearingjellybananas



Series: FlashVibe Week 2018 [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-21 14:58:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15560304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezwearingjellybananas/pseuds/fezwearingjellybananas
Summary: In which Cisco runs into Wally West in Jitters and one spontaneous decision later, he’s moving in with Wally and Wally’s kind of cute brother.Armando would probably have laughed at him, but Doctor Wells’ particle accelerator took Armando away from them, and Cisco has other things to focus on.Like proving it wasn’t the accident Wells claimed.





	Flash Red; Vibe Blue

**Author's Note:**

> [ FlashVibe Week Day 1](http://flashvibeweek.tumblr.com/post/174064547638/flashvibe-week-2018-monday-august-6-sunday): Roommates/Neighbours AU
> 
> Which seemed like a good day to finally finish the roommates AU which has been sitting in my drafts for a few months.

Winter brought rain, and cold, and Cisco decided the best way to fight that was hot coffee. Jitters was the closest coffee shop to his new job and was usually full of people who also decided to fight cold with coffee.

On the bright side, it added to the warmth of inside.

Breaching home would get him coffee so much faster than queuing. But someone would cotton on eventually.

So, joining the long queue in Jitters it was.

It shuffled along slowly. Maybe Cisco should call it a day and just breach home. Say he caught the bus.

He must be over halfway now, if he was halfway, he could make it to the end.

So close.

“-to home?” That was a familiar voice.

“Because I’m pretty sure the Santinis are using it for money laundering.”

“So, not that one. Option two?”

“Too far from C.C.P.D. and C.C.U.”

“They’re not exactly close to each other. Do we really have to consider that when-”

“Good evening, welcome to Jitters,” the barista said. “Sorry about the wait, can I take your order?”

Cisco handed over exact change in return for a large coffee. He took a long gulp which burnt his tongue, but, worth it.

“-perfectly good apartment.”

“Every washing machine was broken for like two months, there was no point paying your rent while you were in a coma, and it caught fire.”

“They fixed it.”

“Dad will- Cisco!”

“Wally West, I thought I heard a familiar voice,” Cisco said. Wally was sitting at a table with a gangly man. “How’ve you been?”

“Yeah, good, thanks. How are you, Doctor Snow said you got hurt in the explosion?”

“Just a bad concussion, I’m fine now,” Cisco said. “You still at C.C.U.? How’s that?”

“I had to get some extensions, and I’m redoing my work experience at Mercury Labs, but it’s good. Oh, this is my brother, Barry, Barry, this is Cisco, he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“Hi,” Barry said. He shook Cisco’s hand and lightning swam across Cisco’s vision. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Cisco said. “How’s your dad, I think I saw him the other day?”

“He’s good,” Wally said. “Busy, but he did finally ask the D.A. out.”

“Cecile’s really nice,” Barry said.

“She is,” Wally said. “And she’s moving in, so Barry and I are moving out. Or trying too.”

“Rent in this city is not cheap,” Cisco said.

“I had an apartment,” Barry said.

“Your old landlord is currently under investigation for arson and insurance fraud,” Wally said.

"But it was cheap. Iris offered.”

“Iris is moving in with Eddie, that does not solve any of our problems.”

“I have one nap, my best friend gets a boyfriend, Joe gets a girlfriend, C.C.P.D. gets another C.S.I., and my apartment catches fire.”

“You were in a coma for nine months, that’s not a nap,” Wally said.

“Such a good nap.”

“Barry.”

“Nine months?” Cisco asked.

“I got struck by lightning,” Barry said. “Moral of the story, don’t hold a metal chain during a thunderstorm.”

“I might have heard about that, did S.T.A.R. Labs offer to help?”

“Yeah, Doctor Snow looked him over,” Wally said. “Are you still working there?”

“No, I’m at the electronics repair shop over the road. I needed something new.”

“That’s cool,” Wally said. “Hey, Barry, is that your phone?”

“It’ll be work,” Barry said. “It was nice meeting you, Cisco.”

“You too.”

“Sorry, Wally.”

“I’ll walk with you, see if Dad’s there, it’s only ’round the corner. See you around, Cisco.”

“Nice seeing you again, Wally.”

* * *

The vibe hit Cisco as soon as Barry and Wally ran out of Jitters.

Cisco pulled out his glasses.

* * *

The Flash and Kid Flash were already on the scene when Cisco breached in.

"Oh, great, it's you," Cisco said, voice distorter on.

"Vibe," the Flash said. "We can handle this."

"Yeah, run along, Sonic the hedgehog, I could just breach him into C.C.P.D."

"We've already done half the work."

Cisco fired a blast and the man turned into a gas.

"What the-"

"Yeah," the Flash said. "It's poison, isn't it fun?" He ran, circling the meta. Kid Flash joined in, and the two of them skidded to a stop as the meta reformed. “So fun.”

“You need to wear him out,” Cisco said. “He’ll be less stable in his gaseous form, he won’t be able to hold it.”

“That’s actually what we’ve been doing.”

“And what I’m still doing!” Kid Flash yelled. “If you two could help instead of bickering!”

“Sorry, bro!” the Flash yelled. He ran off, and Cisco aimed a blast at the Mist. The Mist seemed like a good name.

Cisco aimed more blasts as both speedsters ran to create a vortex around the Mist. He opened a breach to Iron Heights, and Kid Flash knocked the now solid Mist through.

“Thanks,” the Flash grumbled. “Oh great, five o’clock, got to run.”

“Bye, Vibe!” Kid Flash waved, and the two of them shot off.

“’Got to run’,” Cisco muttered. He opened a breach and stepped through to just around the corner from his own home. “And I didn’t even get to finish my coffee.”

* * *

Wally and Barry were in Jitters again the next week, and Wally waved.

“Hey, Cisco.”

“Hi,” Cisco said. “How’s the apartment hunting going?”

“It’s going. We’ll find somewhere.”

“You will. You haven’t seen any one-bedroom ones, have you?”

“Are you moving?”

“It’s just a thought, since you mentioned it. I moved back in with my parents after the accelerator.”

“But having your own space is nice,” Barry said.

“You could move in with us,” Wally said. “The place we’re supposed to look at tomorrow has enough room for three. You’d have to put up with Barry in the mornings, but you can usually get a cooked breakfast out of it, so there are perks.”

“I can live with breakfast.”

“You’ll have to put up with his musicals too,” Wally teased. “And sleep talking.”

“And Wally’s snoring,” Barry said.

“I don’t snore.”

“You remember when the pipes in the attic burst and flooded your room and you had to share with me while Joe called a plumber? You snore, Wally.”

“I sometimes build things in the middle of the night,” Cisco said. “Everyone’s got their bad habits.”

“This is going to be great,” Wally said.

* * *

Wally gave Cisco his and Barry’s numbers and arranged to meet him the next day. Apartment hunting. Not what he’d had planned, but it could be interesting.

“You could just stay here,” Dante said when Cisco told him. “Mama and Dad would love that.”

“And how long before they find out about my new hobby?” Cisco asked.

“How long before your new roommates find out?”

“It’ll be fine.”

“How did you say you knew these people?”

“Wally did some work experience at S.T.A.R. Labs a while ago.”

“But you don’t know his friend.”

“He said his brother. I’m not sure how that works, because he called Iris his best friend, not his sister, and he calls Detective West Joe, but they must be close.”

“Still. He could be anyone.”

"Relax, Dante, it'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

“I think you should stop.”

“Stop moving out, or stop being Vibe?”

“Both.”

“It’s like Uncle Ben said, with great power come great responsibility.”

“You’re not Spider-Man. You’re my little brother. We lost Mando, Cisco. Don’t make us lose you too.”

“The particle accelerator caused this. I should have seen it. But I didn’t, and now Mando’s gone and there are dangerous people using the superpowers I helped give them to hurt people. I have to do something, Dante.”

“No, you don’t.”

* * *

Wally had already arranged to meet Barry at C.C.P.D., and it was only around the corner, so Cisco agreed to meet them there too.

It was busy. But Wally walked through, a few officers nodding in greeting. A detective waved, and Wally walked over.

“Hey, Eddie,” Wally said. “Is Barry in his lab?”

“I think he’s just finishing off some paperwork.”

“This is Cisco. Cisco, this is Eddie Thawne, he’s Iris’ boyfriend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Cisco said. “So, err…”

“Yeah, Dad wasn’t too happy about it at first,” Wally said. “But he got over it, we reminded him he did actually like Eddie before he found out, and Iris really likes him.”

“I really like her too,” Eddie said.

“Hey, Wally, hey Cisco,” Barry said. “I’ve just got to-”

“Allen!”

“I’m here, Captain, I’ve got it!” Barry scrambled over to the captain’s office.

“Been busy again today?” Wally asked.

“You know I’m not supposed to discuss open cases,” Eddie said.

“Especially when you’re dating a journalist. Barry, we’re going to be late.”

“I’m coming!” Barry ran back over. “I’m coming. My shift is over, I’m coming.”

“Great,” Wally said. “It’s not that far.”

It wasn’t far at all; walking distance from the police station. Cisco could breach in and no one would suspect a thing.

Three bedrooms, open plan, a reasonable sized kitchen, it seemed nice.

And it was easily within their budget, even if it was inner city.

“Is it owned by the Santinis or the Darbaynians?” Barry asked.

“No,” the estate agent said.

“Oh good.”

“It’s nice,” Wally said. “It’s really nice. We’ll think about it.”

They were moving in by the end of the week.

* * *

So far Cisco had learnt several things about Barry Allen.

One, his full name was Bartholomew Henry Allen. He didn’t like being called Bartholomew, but it was his grandfather’s name, and he did like that.

Two, Barry and Iris West had been best friends for years. That was why Joe had taken Barry in when Barry was eleven. He hadn’t said why. But Iris had helped them move in, and Cisco could see how close they were.

Three, Barry could cook. As could Wally, Joe had made sure of it, though they both laughed that Iris couldn’t. Barry apparently liked her mac and cheese, but Wally had said that was only to make her feel better, it was not good macaroni.

Four, Barry had green eyes. Probably irrelevant.

Five, Barry was always darting in and out, often with a feeble excuse.

Cisco could vibe him, but he’d been trying to avoid that. And if Barry had a secret girlfriend, he really didn’t want to know.

Besides, if Barry and Wally weren’t in, there was no one to notice if he left on Vibe business.

It worked. Cisco liked both of them.

* * *

He still did not like the Flash. Kid Flash was okay, and he didn’t dislike the Flash exactly, but there was something about the red clad speedster that rubbed Cisco the wrong way. They’d probably just got off on the wrong foot, their first meeting had not gone well, but they were both being too stubborn to admit that. The Flash felt it was his responsibility to sort out all the metahumans. Cisco thought it was his. The Flash already had a partner in Kid Flash. Cisco would rather work alone. They didn’t have room to work together.

And the Flash was getting in his way.

S.T.A.R. Labs was mostly abandoned now. Last he heard, Caitlin had been offered a new job at Mercury Labs. Maybe if he’d stuck around they both could have stayed, but there wasn’t much point if it was just Caitlin and Wells. Wells himself had become a recluse. No one had seen hide nor hair of him since that night. Cisco couldn’t blame him.

That didn’t mean he had to forgive him. His mistake killed Armando.

What was worse was the more Cisco vibed, the less like an accident it seemed. The accelerator explosion itself had too much dark matter; last time he’d tried he’d collapsed. But he could vibe the days before if he concentrated.

Cisco just had to filter out Ronnie and Caitlin. Caitlin was fine. Ronnie had apparently died, but Cisco had seen enough to suggest otherwise.

Cisco closed his eyes and touched the fence.

Barry, Wally, and Iris were all in the crowd.

 _“Tonight, the future begins,”_ Wells said. Cisco remembered that. He’d stood with Ronnie and Caitlin and clapped and cheered too. Armando and Dante were both in the crowd, waving at him.

No, go home, Cisco wanted to scream. Go home, get out of here.

But he couldn’t change the past.

He could only watch, knowing what was about to happen.

 _“My bag!”_ Iris said. Cisco watched as Barry took off after the man now carrying it, Iris and Wally hot on his heels.

Cisco pulled himself out of the vibe. He had enough nightmares about that night. He didn’t need to see it again.  

“What was that about?”

Cisco blinked. The Flash was leaning against the fence, arms crossed.

“I think you zoned out there, dude.”

“I was vibing,” Cisco said. “What are you doing here?”

“Investigating.”

“Investigating what?”

“A rumour Kid Flash and I heard. I thought those blasts were vibes.”

“You mean my vibe blasts?”

“Yeah, those. Do you zone out much?”

“I didn’t zone out, I vibed. If I touch something, I can see the past connected to it, or I can use an object to see where someone connected to it is, and sometimes I see the future.”

“That’s pretty cool. Wait, could you use that to find out who I am?”

“In theory, but why would I want to?”

“Just curious. So, you’re here vibing the accelerator explosion. See anything interesting?”

“None of your business. What rumour are you investigating?”

“None of your business. Catch you later, Professor Trelawney.”

“That’s not remotely accurate!” Cisco yelled, but the Flash had already sped off.

* * *

Cisco took the long way home, out of costume, via the park. He brushed against the fence and settled into a happier vibe. He watched a young Dante kick a ball around, and turned to see himself sitting on a swing, laughing and cheering for Armando to push him higher and higher.

He could stay in the vibe- in his memories- for a little longer.

* * *

Maybe it had been a mistake. Every time he shut his eyes he could see a breach, but Armando was falling, and falling, and Cisco couldn’t reach him.

Cisco could smell bread.

He opened his bedroom door and Barry was standing in the kitchen in a half-buttoned shirt, some old shorts that barely reached halfway to his knees, and a pair of socks. His hair was a mess and he looked exhausted, but he was humming quietly while elbow deep in some dough.

“Oh,” Barry said. “Sorry, Cisco, did I wake you?”

“No,” Cisco said. “What are you doing?”

“Baking bread. I couldn’t sleep, so…” Barry shrugged. “I can stop.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t sleeping either. Do you usually bake when you can’t sleep?”

“Sometimes. It helps calm me down. You could help, if you wanted.”

“Okay. I’ve never made bread.”

“It’s easy.” Barry stepped back so Cisco could stand next to him. “This one’s been rising for a while, you knock the air back by folding it in, same as kneading it, but only for a couple of minutes.”

He split the dough in half, giving half to Cisco and demonstrating with the other. Cisco copied him.

“That’s it,” Barry said. “It’s relaxing.”

“Are you okay?” Cisco asked. Barry cocked his head. “You said you couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh. Yeah. It’s just been a difficult day, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “You must have a lot of that with your job.”

“Some. I love my job. I want to help people. But I see some awful things.”

“The metahumans must be making it more difficult.”

“Yeah. We don’t really have a way to deal with them.”

“I might be able to build something. Or design something, I don’t really have the equipment or anything anymore, but I could design something then see if Caitlin could talk to Doctor McGee.”

“Wally likes Doctor Snow. I haven’t really met her, but he says she’s nice.”

"She is. I haven’t seen her for a while. I just couldn’t go back, not after everything.”

“I get it. After my mother died, I tried to push everyone away. Iris and Joe wouldn’t let me.”

“I’m sorry, Barry.”

“That’s probably ready now. I was going to make rolls, but I have some loaf tins somewhere.”

“Rolls?”

“You shape them and put them on a baking tray. Then you leave them to prove for a little while, then bake. Speaking of.” Barry grabbed the oven gloves and pulled two trays out the oven. He switched it off. “Erm. I like bread rolls.”

“I can see that,” Cisco said. “How do you shape them?”

“Here. I’ll show you.”

* * *

Cisco must have drifted off, because when he opened his eyes, he was sitting on the sofa with a blanket tucked over him, and the smell of bread had faded. Light shone in through the window.

“Morning,” Wally said, a bread roll in his hand.

“Morning,” Cisco said. “Is Barry…”

“I hope he’s asleep. Iris said he had a bad day yesterday. I know he went to see Henry after work-”

“Henry?”

“Barry’s dad. It’s complicated, he’ll tell you when he’s ready. But Barry loves his dad a lot. And Henry is a good man. Still. He’ll be okay, it was just difficult yesterday, it happens to us all.”

“Armando’s dead.”

“Your brother? Cisco, I’m so sorry, I had no-”

“I know. He came to S.T.A.R. Labs to watch the accelerator turn on. They evacuated the building, but Ronnie went down to the Pipeline to fix it, and I went to help him, and then Caitlin came running, and Dante and Armando refused to leave without me. Ronnie was saying goodbye, and then the accelerator went. Armando put himself between us and the accelerator, and then that wave of energy hit us, and I went flying. There wasn’t- We put a memorial up, but we didn’t have anything to bury.”

“Cisco, I’m so sorry,” Wally said. “That must be... I was seven when my mother died, but she was sick for a long time. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Iris.”

“I’ll get there.”

“I’m here if you need anything.”

* * *

The sixth item in Cisco’s list of things he knew about Barry Allen; Barry had trouble sleeping. From how Wally hadn’t been surprised by a large number of bread rolls left on their kitchen side (and Cisco would assume they gave some to Joe and to Iris and Eddie, because they were nearly gone by the end of the day), it was quite common. Cisco wasn’t surprised, given Barry’s job, but he had a feeling there was more to it than that.

Seven, Barry’s mother had died, which seemed to be when he went to live with Joe. Barry’s father was alive, but clearly had been unable to take care of Barry for a reason he hadn’t shared yet.

Eight, Barry looked good with bed hair and a half-undone shirt. Cisco probably shouldn't write this list down.

* * *

Work was...

It was work. Cisco liked fixing things. Making things. But work was tedious. Unlock someone’s phone, Cisco. Replace a phone screen, Cisco. Do the same thing twenty times a day, every day, Cisco.

He missed S.T.A.R. Labs. He missed every day being different. He missed Caitlin and Ronnie. Even Hartley, kind of.

But he couldn’t go back. Maybe he should have taken the job offer at Mercury Labs, but everything had been a mess.

If someone could just invent time travel and stop the accelerator turning on.

If he could just have Armando back.

At least they were pretty relaxed with Cisco taking breaks. So, no one minded when Cisco shot out five minutes before his lunch officially started, and no one noticed Vibe breaching to a park.

Most of the parents had pulled their kids away, but one boy was still reaching out for the brightly wrapped box.

The Flash ran in and grabbed him, and Cisco breached the last of the bombs away.

“Hey,” the Flash said. “Hey, it’s okay. What’s your name?”

“Henry.”

“Henry? Can I tell you a secret, Henry?” The boy nodded, and the Flash crouched down to whisper it. “But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Promise!”

“Henry!” a man shouted. The Flash stood up. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He winked at Henry, then turned to Cisco. “Vibe.”

“Flash. I didn’t realise good with children was one of your superpowers.”

“I have a little brother, and a cousin a bit younger.”

“Where’s Kid Flash?”

“Are you asking if Kid Flash is my cousin?”

“Kid Flash is your cousin?”

“Nope. He’s otherwise occupied, I had this one. Can we talk?”

“We are talking.”

“Properly. I’ll meet you at S.T.A.R. Labs.” He shot off. Cisco shrugged, then breached.

They arrived at the same time.

“I was kind of rude the other day,” the Flash said. “Sorry.”

“Is that what this is about?”

“No. Maybe. This place, it’s difficult to explain. It’s... You know what, don’t worry about it. I just wanted to apologise.”

“Apology accepted,” Cisco said. “And I’m sorry too. This place, it’s got bad memories.”

“Yeah,” the Flash said. “A lot of people got hurt that night.” He sighed. “I should go.”

“Back to the day job?”

“Maybe. You want in if I hear anything about this guy?”

“I can handle it.”

“Suit yourself.” He ran off.

* * *

Five things Cisco knew about the Flash.

One, he could run fast. Hardly noteworthy; the entire city knew he could run fast.

Two, he was usually found with Kid Flash at his side. Unlike Cisco, he rarely worked alone.

Three, he had a younger brother and a cousin. Cisco wasn’t sure why he’d told him, but Armando used to tell everyone he could about Cisco working at S.T.A.R. Labs, so maybe it was a big brother thing.

Four, apparently, he was good with kids.

Five, he had some connection to S.T.A.R. Labs. Something he’d wanted help with but didn’t know who to ask. Maybe it gave away his secret identity.

Maybe he and Cisco could get along after all.

* * *

Cisco breached into the hall in time to hear the Flash demanding the Trickster- the older Trickster- tell him the whereabouts of Henry Allen.

“Henry Allen?” Cisco asked.

“Trickster kidnapped him from Iron Heights, his son works for C.C.P.D.,” Kid Flash said. Barry’s dad. They had Barry’s dad.

Barry’s dad was in Iron Heights.

“Also, everyone in here has been poisoned,” Kid Flash said. “Flash?” He’d vanished. “Well- Hey, Vibe, do you have any ideas on how the Flash can get a bomb off his arm without dropping below six hundred miles an hour?”

“No,” Cisco said. “But tell him I can vibe and find Allen if you get these people to hospital.”

Cisco opened a breach and jumped through. Barry and Wally were both out. Probably with Detective West.

And luckily for everyone, Barry never hung his coat on a peg.

Cisco picked it up and concentrated. Henry, not Barry, Henry, not Barry.

A toy warehouse, why wasn’t he surprised?

Cisco breached in and grabbed Barry’s dad. He opened another breach into C.C.P.D. He couldn’t see Barry. Maybe that was for the best right now.

He breached back to the hall. Kid Flash was still running back and forth.

The Flash skidded back in.

“You okay?” Cisco asked. He didn’t answer, just ran over and grabbed Trickster Senior again.

“Hey,” Kid Flash said to Cisco. “You’re back.”

“Henry Allen is safe with C.C.P.D., and it looks like the Flash is fine.”

“Yeah.” Kid Flash frowned. “Was it him again?”

The Flash dropped both Trickster outside and stormed over.

“Definitely him again,” Kid Flash said. “What did he want?”

“He dragged me through a wall,” the Flash growled. “It got the bomb off, but...”

“Why would he help you?”

“Who?” Cisco asked.

“He calls himself Reverse Flash,” the Flash said. “Stay away from him, if you can. Flash, we have to go.”

“After you, Flash."

* * *

Dante was waiting by the front door when Cisco breached in. His arms were crossed.

“Allen,” he said.

“Dante, not now,” he said.

“It’s all over the news. Henry Allen was arrested fifteen years ago for-”

“Dante, I don’t want to know. Barry will tell me when he’s ready.”

“So, it is his father.”

“I already told you Barry grew up with Joe, and Wally said the other day his father’s name is Henry.”

“You saved him. On the news, it said Vibe found him and took him to C.C.P.D. You had no idea what he’d done, did you?”

“No, but he’s still Barry’s father. And it doesn’t matter who he is, Barry is not his father, he’s sweet, and kind, and-”

The door opened. Wally had an arm over an even paler than usual Barry’s shoulder.

“Oh,” Wally said. “Hi, Cisco. We’ll just...”

“You’re not interrupting,” Cisco said. “This is Dante, my brother. Barry, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Barry said. “I guess you saw the news.”

“I heard about it.”

“My dad’s fine. Vibe saved him. Just in time too, by the sounds of it. He’s... It’s complicated. I can...”

“You don’t have to,” Cisco said. Barry nodded.

“I’m going to go to bed,” he said. “It’s been a long day. I’m fine, Wally. Night.”

“Night,” Wally said to Barry’s retreating form. “He’s not fine.”

“He doesn’t look fine,” Dante said.

“It is late, Dante,” Cisco said. “Is it...”

“Yeah, course,” Wally said. “I should turn in too. Night.”

“Night, Wally,” Cisco said. He turned to Dante. “You can crash on the couch.”

“You could just breach me home.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want Wally or Barry finding out just yet, and I’m not driving you.”

“You don’t have a car.”

“I don’t need a car, I have superpowers. You need a car.”

“I can’t drive.”

“Learn to drive.” Cisco grabbed a blanket and some pyjamas from his room and threw them at Dante. “Night.”

“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Cisco sighed and shut his door.

* * *

He couldn’t work out why he’d woken up at first. It was still dark outside. Dante was still asleep, and Cisco couldn’t hear Wally.

A scuffle and a whimper came from Barry’s room. Cisco knocked, and gently pushed the door open. Barry cried out again.

“Hey,” Cisco said. “Barry, it’s just a nightmare.” He put his hand on Barry’s shoulder.

Lightning filled a room Cisco didn’t know. A red-haired woman was trapped in the middle, a boy screaming, and Henry Allen pushing him back, pushing him away.

“Run, Barry, run!”

Lightning ran towards Barry, and Cisco reached out. The vibe faded as it grabbed hold of him.

“Cisco?” Barry- his Barry- croaked.

“Hey,” Cisco said. “You okay? You sounded like you were having-”

“A nightmare,” Barry said. He pulled himself up and made room for Cisco to perch on the side of the bed, and Cisco definitely did not add that Barry slept shirtless to his list. “They happen sometimes.”

“Is that why you couldn’t sleep that time with the bread?”

“Yeah. I guess today was just... My mother died.”

“You said before. You don’t have to-”

“She was stabbed,” Barry said, and Cisco thought back to the woman with the red hair he’d just seen. “There was- It was- That’s why my father’s in prison. There was- Well, no one believed me about what I saw, so they arrested him.”

“What did you see?”

“I... There was a man in the lightning. He broke in, he killed my mother.”

“Lightning. Like the Flash when he runs?”

“Red and yellow. Glowing red eyes, and a yellow suit.”

“Like a Reverse Flash,” Cisco said. Barry frowned briefly and tilted his head.

“Yeah,” Barry said. “Exactly. But speedsters weren’t exactly well known in 2000, and my dad was found holding the knife. He was a doctor, he was trying to save her. By the time I got back to the house, he was in handcuffs, and my mom-” Barry’s voice cracked. “They weren’t paying attention to me. I managed to get back in and pull back the sheet. That’s when Joe arrived and picked me up.”

“Barry, I am so sorry.”

“Wally said...”

“About Armando?”

“That’s why you couldn’t sleep.”

“He was at S.T.A.R. Labs because of me.”

“The doesn’t make it your fault. Wells caused the explosion, not you.”

“He put himself between the accelerator and Dante and me, they shouldn’t have even been there, they were looking for me.”

“He was trying to protect you,” Barry said. “I’d do the same for Wally. And for Iris and Joe. They’re my family. I didn’t... Iris has been my best friend since we were five, we’ll always be best friends, but Joe is as much my dad as Dad is now, and Wally, he was seven when Francine came back, I’d been living with Joe for 2 years, and we just... I guess it had been about a year, they’d been doing family trees at school, and he couldn’t work out what I was, so Joe told him I was his foster brother, and Wally decided that meant he got to win all the big brother competitions now because ‘ _your_ big brother just takes you to the park, _my_ big brother showed me how to blow stuff up’. Joe had to go in to clarify I was just doing a project on combustion for science, there was no actual combustion allowed, he’d made himself very clear.”

“Good old science projects,” Cisco said. “Armando used to encourage me. He gave me a little set of screwdrivers for my eleventh birthday, I still have them somewhere. Dante taught me to play piano.”

“They both sound like good brothers.”

“Yeah. They are. Will you...”

“I’m feeling much better now.”

“Good.” Cisco stood up. He paused, then patted Barry on the shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

Cisco walked over and opened Barry’s door. He could get a few more hours sleep in.

“Cisco?”

“Yeah?” He turned back around.

“Thank you.”

“Any time. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

* * *

Cisco woke up again to breakfast smells. He got dressed and wandered in to find Dante and Barry laughing about something.

That was possibly bad.

“Morning, Cisco,” Dante said.

“Morning. What are you two doing?”

“Barry offered breakfast, and we got talking.”

“There’s eggs in the frying pan if you want some,” Barry said.

“Thanks,” Cisco said.

* * *

Cisco pulled Dante with him when he left for work.

“Do you believe me that there’s nothing suspicious about Wally or Barry now?” Cisco asked.

“They seem nice.”

“Dante-”

“I worry about you. Constantly. I can’t lose another brother. I can’t lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me. Is this about Vibe again?”

“Cisco, you are the most capable hero I see out there, but that doesn’t stop me being terrified every time I see you in danger. I would do anything to protect you, you know that? But you won’t let me. I know you and Mando were always better at me at everything, you don’t need-”

“Don’t need you?” Cisco asked. “Dante, you idiot, you’re my brother, of course I need you. Me moving out has nothing to do with me not needing you.”

“You’re a superhero, Cisco.”

“And you’re my big brother. Dios mio, is this whole thing been because you’re insecure? You play piano better than Armando, and I don’t know anything about any sports, you definitely play soccer better than me. I get it, you and Mando always looked out for me, but you don’t need to put yourself between me and every potential danger you see. You’re my big brother, Dante, I love you, nothing’s going to change that.”

“Oh. Well. Good. Be careful. Stay out of trouble.”

“When has a Ramon ever stayed out of trouble?”

“Dad’s poor heart.”

“You started it. I’ll be at lunch on Sunday.”

“See you then, hermanitio.” He ruffled Cisco’s hair, and Cisco shoved him off. “Take care of yourself, Cisco.”

“Same to you.”

* * *

Item ten in Cisco’s list of things he knew about Barry Allen: Reverse Flash killed his mother.

Cisco didn’t get it. He hadn’t even heard about another speedster until the Flash had mentioned him. And with a name like Reverse Flash, he had to have it out for the Flash. Which didn’t make sense if he’d been around for fifteen years longer than the Flash.

There were two people Cisco could talk to.

* * *

He could always wait for a cat to get stuck up a tree. One of the speedsters would probably stop by.

Cisco had checked S.T.A.R. Labs, but the Flash wasn’t there.

He couldn’t vibe without something belonging to the person he was trying to vibe. At least, he’d only managed to use it to talk to Dante before and if there was anyone Cisco could vibe without needing a physical object to focus him, it was Dante. He couldn’t use S.T.A.R. Labs, there was too much for him to filter through. So, he’d have to wait to run into the Flash again.

He had his own investigation to do. Harrison Wells was hiding something. The Flash and Kid Flash were on Reverse Flash. Cisco would offer when he next saw them.

Maybe he’d bring them in on Wells too.

* * *

Cisco usually ended up vibing Armando when he went to S.T.A.R. Labs. He could already tell this time was different.

Hartley was smiling. He usually avoided that. Cisco frowned, to concentrate on the person Hartley was talking to- Signing with. They were signing, that’s why Cisco couldn’t hear.

 _“You’re late,”_ Doctor Wells said. He smiled, and Hartley’s companion signed his goodbyes. _“I hope you aren’t keeping Captain Singh waiting like that.”_

 _“Sorry, Uncle Harrison,”_ Barry said. _“There was a boy trying to get his cat out a tree, and he ended up getting stuck instead.”_

_“Always trying to be the hero, Barry.”_

_“Someone has to be.”_ Barry smiled brightly. _“I just like helping people. So, where are we going for lunch?”_

_“Iris isn’t with you?”_

_“She’s in a lecture. But she says hi.”_

_“And Detective West?”_

_“I’m twenty-four, Uncle Harrison, I don’t need to tell Joe where I am every second of the day.”_

_“He still doesn’t approve of you seeing me.”_

_“He’s just concerned.”_

_“My offer is always open, Barry.”_

_“I love Joe. And I have my own apartment now.”_

_“Still. We are still family, Barry, even if Tess...”_

_“I know it’s difficult,”_ Barry said. _“Everything was just too close together, you can’t blame her. Maybe she’ll consider it soon.”_

_“Next time you see her, tell her, tell her...”_

_“Yeah,”_ Barry said. _“I will. But on a happier note, you did promise me details on the particle accelerator, and some facts I can take back to Iris for her article.”_

_“And I fully intend to honour that. There’s a restaurant up town I have a feeling you’ll like.”_

_“How up town?”_

_“I’ll cover your costs, Barry, don’t be ridiculous. What were you and Hartley talking about?”_

_“CERN’s accelerator and the Higgs Bosen. He thinks this might be an opportunity to observe them.”_

_“Perhaps.”_

_“I’m sure there would be some interesting discussions, actually you should meet Lily, we met a few weeks ago, she’s-”_

Cisco pulled himself out of the vibe.

Eleven, Barry’s uncle was Harrison Wells.

* * *

“Why S.T.A.R. Labs?” Cisco asked Wally. He looked up and frowned. “For your work experience? Why did you pick S.T.A.R. Labs?”

“Oh. I was interested in the work. Especially the accelerator. And we were offered S.T.A.R., Mercury Labs, or Kord Industries, my tutor recommended I apply to S.T.A.R. Labs. I wasn’t the only one.”

“No,” Cisco said. “Anyway, how’s your combustion engine project going?”

* * *

Cisco couldn’t find records of what Wells had been doing with the military. He’d looked, but if he wanted to find that, he’d have to vibe it.

He wasn’t having much luck with that.

* * *

Twelve, Barry loved Star Trek.

Thirteen, Joe taught Barry to drive, but he mostly relied on public transport.

Fourteen, when Barry was eleven he’d had some goldfish, but he hadn’t had a pet since.

Fifteen, Barry’s dad had been a doctor.

Sixteen, Barry had gone to Sun City University on a scholarship to study organic chemistry and criminology.

Barry still hadn’t mentioned Harrison Wells.

* * *

“Just ask him,” Dante said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I live with him, Dante. I don’t want to make things awkward.”

“You don’t want to make things awkward between you and the nephew of the man responsible for us losing Armando.”

“I thought you liked him now.”

“He lied to you.”

“He didn’t really though. He just didn’t tell the whole truth. I know Wally would have been sought after by any labs, but...”

“Cisco. You can’t just ignore it forever.”

* * *

As it turned out, Cisco didn’t need to bring up Harrison Wells. Barry did.

“Hey, Cisco,” Wally said. “Are you busy tonight?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Cool. So, we’re going bowling, you want to come?”

“Bowling?”

“Yeah, there’s this old bowling alley Barry and Iris have been going to since forever, it’s nice. Iris and Eddie will be there, and Barry’s cousin, and we’re an odd number at the moment, we need an extra person for three teams, I thought maybe it could be fun? If you want.”

“Yeah, okay,” Cisco said. “That sounds nice.”

“Great. Barry’s working late so he’s getting a lift with Eddie, but I can drive us?”

* * *

Cisco honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a car. He either walked or breached these days. But Wally would notice if he did that.

Barry was sitting at a table with Iris, Eddie, and someone who must have been his cousin.

“Ready to lose, Iris?” Wally asked.

“Wally, you have never beaten me at bowling in your life,” Iris said. “You’re not starting tonight.”

“Au contraire, sister of mine, Barry and I have been practising, prepare to eat your words. Jesse, you and me?”

“Those old people won’t know what hit them.”

“You are only seven years younger than me,” Barry said. “I guess you’re with me, Cisco. If that’s okay?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of some classic sibling rivalry,” Cisco said. “Does this happen every time you go bowling?”

“More or less,” Barry said.

“Every single time,” Eddie said. “Iris and Wally are very competitive.”

“Oh, Jesse, this is Cisco,” Barry said. “Cisco, this is Jesse, my, this always confuses me, are we third cousins?”

“I don’t know, cousin is easier,” Jesse said. “Hey, it’s nice to meet you. And my parents were in the middle of a messy divorce.” Cisco frowned. “Whenever Barry introduces me he gets asked why he went to live with Joe if he had family to go to. My parents were in the middle of a messy divorce and Ma thought it would be too much for him.”

“Oh,” Cisco said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

“There are more reasons than that,” Barry said. He glanced down at his feet.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Cisco said.

“I like him,” Jesse said. “You’re forgiven for getting a roommate and not consulting me.”

“You could have taken up the offer.”

“I don’t want to leave Ma while he’s still in the same city. Aunt Tina’s there, but...”

“I know,” Barry said.

“Jesse, heads or tails?” Iris asked.

“Heads,” Jesse said.

“Looks like you’re up first, little brother,” Iris said.

“I’m taller than you.”

“I could kick your-”

“Okay,” Eddie said. “How about we let Cisco and Barry go first?”

* * *

“Does Joe West just have a knack for raising competitive kids?” Cisco asked.

“Probably,” Barry said. “You should see everyone on family game nights. Iris and Wally don’t mean it, they-”

“I grew up with two older brothers, Barry.”

“Oh, right. Jesse likes you.”

“I didn’t know you had a cousin. Third cousin.”

“Yeah. It’s complicated. Jesse isn’t, she’s my baby cousin, I love her, I used to babysit for Aunt Tess sometimes, but everything else is. But people always ask why I lived with Joe if I had Aunt Tess and Uncle Jay, and I always feel like they’re judging my family. I stayed in Central with Joe because they listened to me.”

“Your whole family was going through the same trauma.”

“It was just a mess. Jesse skims a lot of the details. Um. Aunt Tess was married to Harrison Wells, he’s Jesse’s dad.”

“Oh.”

“There was a car accident, Harrison was completely different after, he even agreed to Aunt Tess’ offer that he could have S.T.A.R. Labs and she would have full custody of Jesse and he couldn’t see her. I actually didn’t see him again until Wally started his work experience. I didn’t realise he’d put two and two together until Wally told me he’d asked after me. We got lunch a couple of times, I realised he was not the Uncle Harrison who’d shown me how to measure the acidity of soil, and then I got struck by lightning. I have not seen him since. I didn’t know if you were still...”

“They all said it was an accident,” Cisco said. “But it was supposed to open new doors for physics and instead it hurt hundreds of people and it took my brother away from me. And Ronnie. I should visit Caitlin.”

“You should,” Barry said. “Sorry I didn’t say anything before.”

“It’s okay,” Cisco said. “It never came up, and it probably isn’t that important.”

* * *

“I need to find out everything about the car accident Tess and Harrison Wells were in fifteen years ago,” Cisco said.

“Great,” Dante said. “Let me just get on that.”

“Dante, I’m serious. I think Barry gave me a lead.”

“Did you finally ask him?”

“No, Wally invited me bowling and Barry brought his cousin, distant cousin, her mother was married to Harrison Wells until a car accident fifteen years ago. That’s when he went on to start S.T.A.R. Labs and design the accelerator.”

“So now you think that’s got something to do with him sabotaging the accelerator? Cisco-”

“I’m telling you, Dante, it wasn’t an accident. Every time I vibe-”

“Cisco. Armando was not your fault.”

“If I-”

“We would never have left you. Can you honestly tell me this is because you believe Wells planned this and not because you’re in denial?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Then let’s investigate a fifteen-year-old car accident without telling your cute roommate you’re prying into his family.”

“Do you think Barry will forgive me?”

“Are you planning on telling him you’re Vibe?”

“No.”

“Then let Vibe do the investigating.”

* * *

Seventeen, Barry could be competitive, and stubborn.

Eighteen, Barry had two aunts and three uncles, kind of, but he didn’t know his aunt Tess’ brother that well.

Nineteen, twins ran in the family on Barry’s mother’s side. He’d nearly been a twin.

Twenty, Barry could not resist the small of a bakery. Cisco hesitated on that point. Could anyone resist the smell of a bakery? But the smile that had spread over Barry’s face as they walked past, and he’d closed his eyes to smell, that was beautiful.

Twenty-one, Barry had a thing about odd socks. He put them in the wash in pairs, so they wouldn’t get messed up. Cisco made sure they stayed paired up when he could.

* * *

Cisco sat in Jitters and waited. He looked up in time to see Doctor Caitlin Snow walk in. She smiled and came over to hug Cisco.

“It’s so good to see you.”

“You look good,” Cisco said. “I’m sorry.”

“We both needed space, Cisco.”

“I should have been there for you. I shut Ronnie in. He said give him two minutes to fix it, then lock the door, whether he was out or not, but if I’d just-”

“It’s not your fault.” Caitlin rested her hand on Cisco’s. “Ronnie wouldn’t blame you either. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah. You too. I should have done this sooner, I really missed you, Caitlin.”

“I missed you too. So, give me the full update on what’s happening in the life of Cisco Ramon.”

“You first.”

* * *

Cisco didn’t even notice the time until Caitlin pointed out Jitters was empty, and the staff probably wanted to go home.

“We’ll have to do this again soon,” Caitlin said.

“I’m free most evenings. And my apartment isn’t far.”

“Did you walk?”

“Most days. There’s not much point in a car at the moment. Actually...” Cisco looked around and darted into an alley. Caitlin followed him. “Watch this.” He opened a breach.

“You’re a metahuman,” Caitlin said. “You’re Vibe.”

“Surprise,” Cisco said. “Dante’s the only one who knows.”

“I won’t tell anyone, Cisco,” Caitlin said. “You’re not the only one.”

* * *

The day Cisco realised his weird dreams weren’t just dreams, he’d told Dante. Dante’s first response is that Cisco needed to tell their parents.

“I don’t want them worrying about me on top of everything else,” Cisco had said. Dante had accepted it. He hadn’t liked it. But he’d acknowledged it was Cisco’s choice to make and promised not to say anything.

He took a while to control the vibes as well. Sometimes he still couldn’t, but he was better at it than he had been. The vibe blasts came later. Metahumans were a thing in Central now, and it was causing chaos. Cisco had just gone to the bank for five minutes, and a guy walked in and filled the place with storm clouds. Something had shot out of Cisco’s hand and hit him, just before the police ran in.

Cisco had made a quiet get away and gone to find Dante. He’d heard they’d caught the guy- Clyde Mardon- later. Joe West had been involved. It was also the first day the Flash had been sighted, even if it was just a rumour a few people had put up on the internet.

Dante had urged Cisco to tell their parents then too, and again when he’d thrown a newspaper in front of Cisco and demanded an explanation for this new hero Vibe that was on the front page. The breaching had started by then, and Cisco was getting good at controlling his powers.

He’d explained everything to Caitlin as they sat in the Badlands, a long way from where anyone could see them. It was a good place to practise.

Caitlin had turned the rain around them to snow.

“Ronnie always did say we were like fire and ice,” Caitlin said.

“I think that was because your last name is Snow,” Cisco said. “Does this count as irony?”

“I’ve been trying to find a way to get rid of them.”

“Why?”

“I absorb heat, Cisco. Can you imagine how many people I could hurt?”

“I could destroy Central City.”

“Cisco-”

“I’m being serious. If my powers work by tapping into the vibrations of the multiverse itself, I’m pretty sure I could shake at least the planet apart if I tried. I wouldn’t. But I could. Just because you could hurt someone doesn’t mean you will. You’re still Caitlin.”

“I don’t think I could be a hero.”

“Then don’t. Just be Caitlin.”

“How do you know your powers work?”

“I think I vibed someone telling me once, or maybe another Cisco. Parallel Earths are a thing, I think we have quite a lot to catch up on.”

* * *

Cisco told Caitlin about his weird vibe with Ronnie but not Ronnie after they’d done.

He’d breached them to outside S.T.A.R. Labs.

“You really think Doctor Wells planned this?” Caitlin asked.

“It looks that way,” Cisco said.

“I was going to stay, but I was the only one, he said I should look at the offer from Mercury Labs.”

“Hey, Vibe. Hi, Vibe’s friend.”

“Flash,” Cisco said. He’d worn his suit to show Caitlin, but he hadn’t put his glasses on, if-

The Flash ran into the fence.

“Are you okay?” Cisco asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” the Flash said. “I wasn’t sure if your friend had a mask or anything, so I closed my eyes. Don’t want to accidentally find out anyone’s secret identity.”

“Oh. Thanks. Do you still have your eyes shut?”

“Yes.”

“Hang on.” Cisco pulled out his glasses and slipped them on. He turned to Caitlin and stared. Cisco held up his phone and showed Caitlin the reflection. Her hair had turned white and her lips and eyes were blue. “You know what, Flash, I think you’re okay to look.”

“Thanks,” the Flash said. He jumped up. “Am I interrupting?”

“You’re fine. I’ve actually been hoping to run into you since the Tricksters.”

“Oh. I came to apologise for avoiding you since the Tricksters.”

“You were avoiding me?”

“It’s…” He rubbed the back of his neck. Something about that seemed familiar. “Yeah, a little, I was just being stupid, and I’m sorry. Why did you want to see me?”

“I want to ask you about Reverse Flash.”

“Please don’t.”

“He hurt a friend of mine.”

“He’s hurt a lot of people.”

“Kid Flash implied he saved your life that night.”

“Which is a bit contradictory, because he did threaten my family and I’m pretty sure he wants to kill me, but I guess he assumed he couldn’t do that if James Jesse beat him to it? Plus, both times we’ve fought I’ve been back on my feet by the next day. And, yeah, I can heal broken bones in hours, if I weren’t a speedster, I’d probably be dead, but usually he runs just out of reach. Proving he’s faster than me, I guess.”

“He knows who you are,” Cisco said. The Flash cocked his head. “You said he threatened your family, you said Kid Flash wasn’t your cousin, he knows who you are.”

“Yes, he does. He is incredibly dangerous. Please don’t look for him. I guess-”

Cisco doubled over. It had been a while since he’d had a vibe like this.

“Vibe?” the Flash asked. He put a hand on Cisco’s shoulder.

“C- Vibe, are you okay?” Caitlin asked.

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “I don’t suppose you know where I can find Hartley Rathaway.”

“Actually,” the Flash said. “I do.”

* * *

“You really think Hartley could help?” Caitlin asked.

“I saw Wells firing him,” Cisco said. “Hartley told him the accelerator would fail.”

“And you’re going in costume,” Dante said.

“He’s expecting Vibe, and I’m not going to let Hartley Rathaway work out my secret identity.”

“Be careful,” Caitlin said.

Cisco nodded.

* * *

Jitters was shut. How Hartley had got on the roof, Cisco wasn’t sure. Maybe the Flash had run him.

He breached up there.

“Vibe,” Hartley said. “I hear you wanted to see me.”

“I want to ask you about the particle accelerator.”

“You want confirmation it created the metahumans?”

“No. I want to know why it went wrong.”

“Because it was designed to.”

“You’re saying Harrison Wells intentionally destroyed his life’s work?”

“I’m saying I found an obvious flaw and rather than fix it, I was fired, and various rumours put about. Perhaps he was just angry his life’s work had a mistake and refused to admit his junior was right.”

“Or perhaps there’s more going on,” Cisco said. “The accelerator was flawed? And you’re the only one who knows.”

“You could try Ronnie Raymond, he was the lead engineer.”

“He’s dead.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

“What do you know?”

“Ask Professor Martin Stein.”

* * *

Twenty-two, Barry loved musicals, and always sang along.

* * *

“Hartley said Ronnie’s alive?” Caitlin asked. “But how?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find him. I promise, Caitlin. Have either of you found anything about the accident?”

“It wasn’t that public,” Dante said.

“It was before S.T.A.R.,” Caitlin said. “Doctor Wells wasn’t really well known yet.”

“It says they were driving from Central back to Starling, it was late, he lost control, she ended up in hospital in a critical condition, he was relatively unscathed, and their daughter was with her uncle at the time, not in the car. That’s pretty much it. There’s nothing on their divorce.”

“Maybe it was just an accident,” Caitlin said. “Maybe the accelerator had something to do with his work with the military?”

“I don’t know,” Cisco said. “This is important, I’m sure it is. He always said he hated weapons.”

“He did,” Caitlin said. “Maybe this was in medical research? Or maybe it was why he hates weapons.”

“I think you should ask Barry,” Dante said.

* * *

“I still can’t believe Harrison Wells, famous physicist, got you into chemistry,” Cisco said.

“It wasn’t just Uncle Harrison,” Barry said. “It was Aunt Tess too, and Uncle Jay, my dad’s cousin, studied chemistry and physics, he was doing some experiments with heavy water when he got struck by lightning.”

“Your dad’s cousin got struck by lightning too?” Cisco asked. “That is…”

“Yeah.” Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “That was fifteen years ago though, and I guess life is full of coincidences. Technically Wally got struck by lightning as well, but that’s because he was with me in the lab and tried to pull me away from the chain when it came down.”

“Huh. But what was he like? Harrison Wells before he was Harrison Wells.”

“Kind. He was so in love with Aunt Tess, and Jesse was his entire world. And then there was the accident and it was like someone wearing his face took his place.”

“Did you know he’d worked with the military?”

“The Harrison Wells I knew would never have done that.”

“Barry, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah, anything.” Barry’s phone made a noise. “Yeah, anything in maybe half an hour? Sorry, Cisco, I have to go.”

“Work?”

“I have to go and process a scene where the witnesses are all saying the culprit was a giant gorilla.”

“Sorry, what?”

* * *

There actually was a giant gorilla. Cisco stared at it.

“Well,” he said. “I guess this is a thing now.”

“Does this mean we can say we’ve seen everything?” the Flash asked.

“We haven’t seen a shark man,” Kid Flash said.

“Oh great, you jinxed us.”

“What kind of world would this be if we actually had to fight a shark man?”

The Flash gestured at the gorilla.

“Oh yeah, I definitely just jinxed us.”

“Why would you even say something that?” the other speedster asked.

“Because he hates me,” the Flash said. “Oh, Vibe, this is Jesse Quick, Quick, this is Vibe.”

“Hey,” Jesse Quick said.

“Hi,” Cisco said. “Giant gorilla?”

“Right,” the Flash said. “Hi there, um-”

“ _Flash,_ ” the gorilla said. “ _Father wants you._ ”

“A giant, telepathic gorilla,” Cisco said.

“ _I am Grodd._ ”

“Hi, Grodd,” the Flash said. “What do-” The Flash screamed and fell to the floor, clutching his head.

“Flash!” Kid Flash and Jesse Quick shouted. She ran to the Flash while Kid Flash charged the gorilla. Grodd flung him back.

“Grodd,” Cisco said. “You were at S.T.A.R. Labs, weren’t you?”

“ _Vibe._ ”

“That’s right. I’m Vibe. Grodd, is your father Harrison Wells?”

“Vibe, look out!” Kid Flash said.

* * *

“What happened to you?” Cisco asked.

“I don’t know,” the Flash said. “It hurt, it hurt so much, and I could see needles? I think it was some kind of lab.”

“That could explain where his telepathy came from.”

“I guess this means metas aren’t limited to humans either. But are they limited to apes? What about dogs?”

“You want a pet dog, don’t you?”

“Or a turtle. I like turtles.”

“A speedster turtle. Wouldn’t they go at like three miles an hour?”

“The top speed of the Galapagos Tortoise is just under half a kilometre an hour.”

“You just know that.”

“I’m thinking of calling them Flash Facts, what do you think?”

“You absolutely should.”

“Great, because Kid Flash, Jesse Quick, and my best friend yell at me every time I tell them I’ll be back in a flash. What are we going to do about Grodd?”

“I might have an idea, to block his telepathy, but I don’t know where to find what I need to build it.”

“Just tell me what you need, I have a friend.”

* * *

Dante blinked.

“You fought a gorilla.”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “My telepathy blocking helmet didn’t actually work, but Kid Flash and Jesse Quick talked to the Flash. And I opened a breach and we told him there are other gorillas like him there and it might be nicer for him there, he didn’t have to listen to his father, and there wouldn’t be any more scientists.”

“Doctor Wells,” Caitlin said. “But why would Doctor Wells want the Flash?”

“He mentioned General Eiling,” Cisco said. “I think that’s what they were doing.”

“Trying to give a gorilla superpowers?” Dante asked. He frowned. “That’s exactly what the particle accelerator did.”

“I don’t know,” Cisco said.

* * *

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Barry asked.

Cisco could tell him. Could tell him exactly the kind of man Harrison Wells was. But he’d have to explain how he knew.

Cisco could tell him. He could trust Barry.

But it could hurt Barry. Even if he didn’t talk to Wells anymore, he still had fond memories. Cisco didn’t want to hurt him.

“Nothing,” Cisco said. “Not nothing, but Dante called just after you left, and he actually answered my question, so it doesn’t matter.”

* * *

He still couldn’t find Ronnie.

* * *

Cisco didn’t turn around when he heard the noise behind him. He turned around when it wasn’t immediately followed by a ‘hey, Vibe’.

The speedster standing there had a yellow suit. Glowing red eyes. He was vibrating his face, like the Flash did, but red lightning flickered, not yellow.

“Hello, Cisco,” Reverse Flash said. “I hear you’ve been investigating me.”

“No,” Cisco said. “Not unless… You’re Harrison Wells.”

“You always were so clever, Cisco.” He pulled down his cowl.

“You killed Nora Allen. Why? What do you want with Barry?”

“Get away from him!”

The Flash ran forward, and they both moved too quick to see. The Flash hit the fence and fell to the floor.

“You haven’t told him.” Wells had his cowl up again. Cisco blinked, and the two speedsters were gone.

Harrison Wells was the Reverse Flash. He had to tell Barry.

He had to find the Flash.

He didn’t know how to find the Flash.

But he did know how to find Wells.

Cisco reached out for the fence around S.T.A.R. Labs and focused. He could see them fighting. Moving too fast to see.

Central City Stadium.

Cisco opened a breach and jumped through. Reverse Flash threw the Flash across the field, and Cisco held up his hands. A vibe blast shot out, stopping Wells dead. Another blast threw him backwards, and Cisco grabbed hold of the Flash.

He opened a breach and jumped into a hall. The Flash groaned, head hanging forwards.

Cisco hammered on the door.

“I’m coming, I’m-”

Caitlin stopped as she threw the door open.

“Help,” Cisco said. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Come in,” Caitlin said. “I don’t have any equipment here, I-”

“I heal quick,” the Flash said. He groaned again. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Just some broken ribs and a concussion, I’ll be fine in a few hours.”

“You can’t be sure.”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Dude, that doesn’t make this better,” Cisco said. “I’d take you to a hospital, but secret identity.”

“Thanks.”

“And I’m really sorry, um, Frost, but I don’t know if my roommates are in.”

“It’s fine, Vibe,” Caitlin said. They ushered the Flash in and sat him down.

“I have roommates,” he said. “I have the nicest roommate. He helped me when I had a nightmare, and he doesn’t mind my late-night habits. There’s all these little things he probably doesn’t even notice, but they mean a lot.”

“He sounds nice,” Caitlin said.

“He’s great.” The Flash sighed and smiled.

“Sounds like you really like him.”

“And he’s really attractive.”

“Nice,” Cisco said. “I have a cute roommate too, but he doesn’t know I’m Vibe.”

“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good.” The Flash yawned. “I should go.”

“I’d rather you stayed,” Caitlin said. “At least until your ribs are healed.”

“I can stay with you,” Cisco said.

“Thank you,” the Flash said. “I just need to...” He pulled out an old phone and pressed a few buttons. “Flash, I’m fine,” he said. “Reverse Flash was- No, please don’t. Don- Hi. Um. I’m with Vibe and his friend. They’re a doctor. No, I’m fine, honest. I know. I know. I promise, first thing. Yeah. Love you too. I’ll talk to you in the morning, I promise.”

The Flash put the phone down.

“Girlfriend?” Caitlin asked.

“I don’t have a- Oh, because of that, err, no. That was my foster dad.”

“Kid Flash went to find your dad?” Cisco asked.

“Yeah, but that was the other Flash,” the Flash said. “The Keystone Flash, the first one?”

“He’s real?” Caitlin asked.

“Yeah. Kid Flash is there too, and Jesse Quick, apparently our friend saw Reverse Flash and called Kid Flash.” The Flash yawned again.

“I’ll get some blankets,” Caitlin said.

* * *

Caitlin had offered her bed, but Cisco had offered to stay with the Flash. Clearly, they’d decided the floor was better at some point during the night, because that was where Cisco woke up when the Flash literally vibrated out of his arms.

“Did you just go through me?” Cisco asked. “Wait, did I have my arms wrapped around you?”

“I’ve been told I’m an excellent hot water bottle,” the Flash said. “It has also happened with my best friend. Even before I became the Flash, though several of those times were deliberate. And yes, sorry, I panicked.”

“You can vibrate through people.”

“Through solid objects. I normally try and avoid anything alive, um, Reverse Flash used it to kill a couple of people, so, yeah.”

“You aren’t vibrating now,” Cisco said. He frowned at the familiar voice. “I’m really sorry.”

“Oh, it’s cool, I enjoy hugs, I just wasn’t sure how you were going to react to me having my chin on your head. Your hair is so incredibly soft.”

“You’re not even vibrating your voice,” Cisco said. The Flash sighed and pulled down his cowl. Barry’s hair was all ruffled.

“Hey,” he said. “I guess- Cisco?”

“I’m not wearing my glasses.”

“Your Vibe ones? Yeah you are, they cover your eyes, and your voice modulator is still on, sleeping in costume is not comfortable, but the entire rest of your face is there? You’re not exactly hard to recognise now you turned the blurry thing off.”

“You never did before! What blurry thing?”

“You normally just look like a big blur? Honestly, I thought I was seeing things the first time we met, until you started speaking. I guess it seems kind of rude in hindsight, the ignoring you thing, I’m really sorry about that.”

“I was rude too, I’m sorry too. Your suit has lenses.”

“Kind of? Joe told me if I’m going to run into fires I at least need some eye protection, Aunt Tess made some pieces of safety glasses to fit in my cowl, and Jesse thought thermal imaging might come in useful, so she did some meddling, that’s what happens when your baby cousin is a genius. Kid Flash has got them too. Oh, Joe, I have to call him.”

“I can’t believe you told Detective West you have superpowers.”

“They run in the family, and he’s a detective, he’d have worked it out if I didn’t tell him.”

“They what? Wait. Harrison Wells is the Reverse Flash, and you-”

“I’m not biologically related to him, and he hasn’t acted like Uncle Harrison for fifteen years. I think you should meet my family.”

“Moving a bit quick, aren’t we, Barry, I only woke up cuddling you about ten minutes ago.”

Barry’s cheeks flushed.

“I’m joking,” Cisco clarified. “Your whole family know you’re the Flash?”

“Not my whole family. Joe and Dad, obviously, and Uncle Jay, Aunt Joan, Aunt Tess, and Aunt Tess’ friend, Tina, actually, you probably know Doctor McGee, and Iris, Wally, and Jesse. And Eddie and Cecile. And now you. Thank you, by the way. For saving my dad.”

“It was your dad, that’s why I went so quickly. Did they know?”

“No, they took him because I work for C.C.P.D.”

“I vibed you. When you were having the nightmare. I saw the lightning and your mother.”

“Okay. I probably should actually-”

“Yeah.”

Barry moved away slightly to talk to Detective West.

Twenty-three, Barry Allen was the Flash.

This whole time his cute roommate was the same guy that was running around the city who Cisco actually quite liked.

Cisco told the Flash he had a cute roommate last night. He told _Barry_ , his cute roommate, he had a cute roommate last night.

It would be fine. Maybe Barry would think he was talking about Wally? That probably wouldn’t be any better.

He’d told the Flash he had a cute roommate because the Flash sighed over his roommate, the attractive one who helped him with his nightmare and did the little things that meant a lot. And Barry definitely hadn’t been talking about Wally.

Twenty-four, Barry thought Cisco was great, the nicest roommate, and attractive, and he sighed when he talked about him to other people.

Cisco was like eighty percent sure Barry might have a slight crush.

* * *

“So, your roommate is the Flash,” Caitlin said. Barry waved from the other side of her kitchen. “That is...”

“A really weird coincidence?” Cisco asked. “Yeah, I know. An entire city of people, and the whole time it was my roommate.”

“Are you going to tell Dante?”

“It’s Barry’s secret, not mine. He’s the one who said I could tell you.”

“Dante’s been helping you look into Wells too.”

“I don’t mind if you want to bring Dante too,” Barry said. “I need to check something with Kid Flash really quick, but if you trust him, it’s cool with me.”

“How many people know your secret identity?” Cisco asked.

“My family and you two right now. Oh, and the Green Arrow, I saved his life once. A couple of his friends. The Black Canary who really is the coolest ever. And Hartley.”

“Hartley Rathaway knows your secret identity,” Caitlin said.

“Yeah, he’s a friend. Hartley and Wally are bros, if he wasn’t already living with Linda, I’m pretty sure we’d have asked him about roommates too. Linda also knows, that’s because she’s Iris’ other best friend, and Wally has a crush. Also, I think Captain Singh knows. I haven’t told him, I just get the feeling he knows.”

“That is so many people,” Cisco said.

“I trust all of them. And a few have their own secret identities they trusted me with, so. The others say they’re okay with you bringing Dante. You want to go now? Everyone’s already at Joe’s waiting to yell at me.”

“I’m sure they won’t yell at you,” Caitlin said.

“I went after Reverse Flash by myself. Trust me, I am going to be in so much trouble.”

* * *

“Bartholomew Henry Allen,” Iris West said. She stood in the doorway, blocking the way. “You went after Reverse Flash by yourself?”

“Yeah, dude, you could have called,” Kid Flash said. He had his cowl down. Cisco was not surprised to see Wally West grinning at him. “Hey, Vibe.”

“Hi, Wally,” Cisco said. Wally blinked.

“Did we accidentally become roommates with Vibe?”

“Are you surprised?” Barry asked.

“I feel I should be, but I also know it’s us.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Iris said.

“He did save me,” Cisco said.

“And then Cisco saved me,” Barry said. “Iris.”

“I’m still cross with you.” She stepped aside. “Hi, Cisco.”

“Hi. This is Caitlin and Dante.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Caitlin said. “Oh, Doctor Morgan.”

“Doctor Snow, this is a surprise. Bartholomew.”

“It wasn’t like I planned it, Aunt Tess. I was just looking for Vibe. Cisco. Err, Cisco, this is my Aunt Tess, that’s Uncle Jay and Aunt Joan, and you already met Joe and Jesse.”

“Hi,” Cisco said. “Jesse Quick. Do you just go by your name?”

“It was Grandma’s name,” Jesse said. “Her parents were in the Justice Society of America, Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. Actually, so was Grandpa’s Dad, Hourman.”

“In the what?” Dante asked.

“Morgan is technically Ma’s middle name, it’s Tyler, but professionally she uses Morgan for the lack of alliteration.”

“Is this genetic?” Cisco asked. “Are you just related to a huge number of speedsters?”

“My great-grandmother’s sister married Jesse’s other great-grandfather,” Barry said. “And I know Uncle Jay and Dad look really similar, but they are actually just cousins.”

“You’re the Keystone Flash, aren’t you?”

“I am,” the guy who looked exactly like Barry’s dad said.

“Maybe there’s a distant Garrick ancestor who had super-speed,” Wally said. “But how do you explain me?”

“You got struck by the same lightning bolt I did,” Barry said. “It’s not like we don’t know there are other speedsters out there.”

“Or it means I get to be the Jay and find a small cousin once removed. Wait, I have one of those. What are the chances he’s a speedster?”

“Wally,” Joe said. “Leave Wallace out of this. Barry, what did Reverse Flash want?”

“He came after me,” Cisco said. “Barry didn’t really give him a chance to talk, but he knew we’ve been looking into him. The particle accelerator wasn’t an accident.”

“Hartley told us. He went to Barry after he was fired, and Barry introduced him to Tess and Tina, but the accelerator was switched on before they could petition a review.”

“Barry said Doctor Wells started acting differently fifteen years ago.”

“Not just differently.” Jesse kicked the ground. “Like someone stole his face and decided to do everything Dad was against. He’s-”

“Jesse,” Iris said. She put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “We’re going to solve this.”

“Joe took Barry home that night,” Tess said. “Harrison and I left Jesse with my brother and drove down. We met Jay and Joan here. Barry had to answer some questions, and he was furious no one believed him about Reverse Flash. I told Joe and Jay about my mother and grandfather. Barry wanted to stay for the trial, and Iris was the only person he’d talk to. We’d barely started talking about where Barry would go before Jay was struck by lightning.”

“Lightning seemed like too much of a coincidence with what Barry described,” Joan said. “And we didn’t know what would happen when Jay woke up. And then Tess called about the crash and the lightning she saw.”

“After, he wasn’t the same Harrison,” Tess said. “And then he started talking about pushing our move to Central forward to not uproot Barry. Of course we’d talked about it, but we had other work to finish first, and Barry was adamant on staying in Central. He wanted to stay with Joe, and Iris, and near Henry. He’d also told us the man in the lightning looked at him before he was taken outside.”

“He really does want Barry,” Cisco said. “Why?”

“We don’t know,” Joe said. “We managed to keep him away from Barry, and Jesse, for thirteen years, and then Wally got his work experience and he asked after Barry.”

“I told you, Dad, I couldn’t exactly tell my lecturers ‘no, we think Doctor Wells murdered my foster brother’s mother’.”

“You could think of something, you, Iris, Jesse, and Barry were fully intending on your own investigation and didn’t tell us.”

“Because you’d tell us no.”

“For a good reason.”

“Dad,” Wally said. “If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have met Hartley. We wouldn’t have met Cisco.”

“You intentionally put yourself in danger, Wallace.”

“Dad-”

“Just drop it, Walls,” Iris said quietly. “Not right now.”

“Your vibes,” Barry said, changing the subject. “You told me you could see the past. Do you think you could vibe the accident? Aunt Tess saw lightning, if we can find out why, it might help.”

“I can try,” Cisco said.

* * *

Cisco sat on the porch. Everyone was busy trying to find out what to do next. Now they knew for certain Harrison Wells was dead, now he’d-

“Hey,” Barry said. He’d changed out of his suit and sat down next to Cisco. “You picked a good spot. I’ve spent lots of evenings sitting out here.”

“I’m sorry,” Cisco said.

“It hurts,” Barry admitted. “Aunt Tess and Jesse are really hurting. But a part of me is glad it’s not really him. That I can look back on happier times and know it wasn’t him planning to...” He sighed. “I think Aunt Tess and Jesse are glad too. In a way. Joe and Aunt Tess are going to drive to Starling, Black Canary is meeting them there, if they can find the body and prove he’s not Uncle Harrison, it’ll open an investigation. Hartley can speak up about the accelerator and be listened to. I don’t know if they will find anything to prove my dad innocent, but it’s a start. You gave us a start, Cisco. Thank you.”

“What will get your dad out?”

“A confession. Cecile’s been looking at it, there probably won’t be any evidence left in my old house, not enough to prove it, maybe if we prove Reverse Flash exists, that he’s the one pretending to be Uncle Harrison, but the only certain way is a confession.”

“We’ll get one,” Cisco said. “I don’t know how, but we’ll get one.”

“I am sorry about your brother. I feel-”

“Don’t,” Cisco said. “You’re the victim, you’re not responsible for what he’s doing to get to you. Armando was down there because of me, but neither of us would have been there if Reverse Flash hadn’t done this. It’s all on him. And we’re going to prove it.”

“Thank you, Cisco. Really.”

Barry put his hand on Cisco’s and Cisco gasped. Barry was hugging his father.

“Cisco?”

“I think you’ll see.” He smiled. “It’s good, don’t worry.”

“Good.” Barry rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to talk to you about what I said last night too.”

“Calling me the nicest roommate, or calling me attractive?”

“Both. I meant both, but if it makes things weird, with us living together, I-”

“I think you missed me calling you cute.”

“You were talking about me?”

“I wasn’t talking about Wally.”

“Oh.” Barry’s ears turned red. “We do live together.”

“That makes date night convenient.”

“Wally’s going to be so cross with me. We move out to get away from Joe and Cecile being romantic, he refuses Iris’ offer to avoid her and Eddie being romantic, and now he’s stuck with me.”

“So, you plan on being romantic with me?" Cisco smiled.

"Oh, I don't know," Barry said. "But I was hoping, since apparently I’m cute, you won’t mind if I do this.”

He leaned forward and caught Cisco’s lips with his. Cisco closed his eyes, focusing solely on Barry.

Number twenty-five, Barry Allen was a spectacular kisser.

Barry drew back and smiled nervously. Oh, Cisco was very right about the cute thing.

“Was that...”

“Almost perfect,” Cisco said. “But you know what’s even better than a first kiss?”

“No.”

“A second.”

Barry smiled and cupped Cisco’s cheeks with his hands.

Item number one in the list of things Cisco Ramon knew about himself: he was utterly, unequivocally, head over heels for one Bartholomew Henry Allen.

**Author's Note:**

> I have not done Spanish for years, but I'm pretty sure hermanito is little brother? I hope.
> 
> My library is small but pretty great and they had JLA's Vibe in again a few months ago. It might have played a hand in a few bits.


End file.
